CROMWELL, Conn. — Every putt Adam Rainaud hit Thursday at the Travelers Championship seemed to stop just short or skirt right by.
The South Hadley native and assistant golf professional at Black Hall Club in Old Lyme shot a 4-over 74 to tie for 141st after the first round.
“I hit the ball pretty well, I think. Hit a lot of greens, just hit a lot of shots to 20 or so feet and didn’t make any of them,” Rainaud said.
Rainaud hit 8-of-14 fairways and 13-of-18 greens.
It took him 32 putts to get through the round.
“I had a lot of putts that just ended up on the lip or burned the edge,” Rainaud said. “I didn’t make too many crazy mistakes, just didn’t make any putts.”
All 18 holes of his opening round were either bogey, birdie or par.
He opened with a bogey on the 10th hole then parred three in a row.
Rainaud bogeyed 14 and 15 but expected better of himself on the 278-yard par-4 15th.
His tee shot landed 30 feet from the pin but was down a hill from the green.
Rainaud tried to chip onto the green but didn’t make it all the way up the hill.
Another chip and two shots later, he found the hole for bogey.
“I hit a really good drive on 15, the fact that I walked away there with a bogey was upsetting,” Rainaud said.
He redeemed himself on 18.
Rainaud blasted his tee shot 298 yards then hit his approach another 142 yards, leaving a putt of 2 feet, 9 inches for his first birdie of the day.
His fiancee Wendy Rowe yelled “I love you Adam!” as he walked up to the green.
She was one member of a well-stocked gallery for the former South Hadley High School standout.
Family and friends from his hometown and the Black Hall Club journeyed to Cromwell to support Rainaud.
His father, Stephen Rainaud, wore a Louisville polo, Adam’s alma mater, to show support.
“He’s always dreamed of playing on the PGA Tour and I guess it’s my dream, too,” Stephen Rainaud said.
The extra attention didn’t bother Adam Rainaud when he was on the course.
“The more friends and family that come out the better. I see some faces that I haven’t seen in a long time,” Rainaud said. “It’s fun whenever you do hit a good shot you get a nice good cheer. It doesn’t distract me at all.”
His biggest cheer came from the seventh green.
Rainaud hit his tee shot 273 yards into a bunker 176 yards from the pin.
He cleared the bunker and hit the pin, dropping the ball 4 feet away for his second birdie.
“Right when I hit it, I knew I hit it exactly the way I wanted,” he said.
Rainaud’s front and back nines each featured three bogeys and a birdie.
He teed off at 2:15 p.m., the last group to start, and played most of the back nine in the setting sun.
The only group chasing him, Kelly Kraft and Martin Piller rode John Deere lawnmowers to prepare the course for Friday’s second round.
“With all the traffic, the greens were as bumpy as they could be,” Rainaud said. “Tomorrow it’ll be nice playing in the morning. The greens will probably be a little softer and a little smoother. Tomorrow will definitely be the easier scoring day.”
Rainaud tees off at 9 a.m. on the first hole.
He’ll be chasing leaders Taylor Vaught, Andrew Loupe and Jerry Kelly, all tied at 6 under.
“You got to think there are a bunch of guys right behind you and they’re not afraid and going to keep pushing,” Taylor said. “You got to keep going.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.